New trailer for the first of four prequel Ghost in the Shell OVA's, border:1 Ghost Pain. Visit our anime section for all the latest news on the Major, Gatchaman, Goku and more.

"border:1 Ghost Pain" premiered in Japan theaters and will have a quick turn around for home video release with a July 26th street date. Fans who purchased tickets to the theatrical release also got the chance to purchase the blu-ray early.

Rupert Sanders Haunts Ghost In The ShellHe's on to direct the live-action anime remake

One of the projects that first flared up during a rash of announcements about such adaptations was DreamWorks’ acquisition of cult manga/anime title Ghost In The Shell. Things have been largely quiet since then, though Avatar/Shutter Island writer Laeta Kalogridis was hired to craft a new draft of the script back in 2009. Deadline reports that director Rupert Sanders is now the man charged with bringing it to screens.

Sanders, who last made Snow White And The Huntsman, will potentially be working instead from a screenplay by Hoax scribe William Wheeler. We say potentially, because this thing has been floating in development limbo for a while, and has shown no signs of wanting to leave.

Still, despite the understandable concerns of those who love Masamune Shirow’s original 1989 work (which spawned three manga editions, three films a TV series and several video games, Ghost certainly boasts a compelling story angle. The focus is on Motoko Kusanagi, a cyborg law enforcer and part of the member of a covert ops unit of the Japanese National Public Safety Commission, which specialises in tackling technology-related crimes. Live-action will be a tougher medium to work in than either the printed page or animation, but if James Cameron can find a way to shoot Avatar, it’s possible to make a good Ghost film. Assuming you can crack the story properly…

The Wachowski siblings have cited it as one of the major inspirations for the Matrix films, though we’re not sure it should be held responsible for the second and third entries…